In an interview on the Anime On DVD website, Bandai's Jerry Chu announced that as of January 1, 2004 Bandai Entertainment will be handling the distribution of DVD products directly with major retail accounts and distributors.  Pioneer had been distributing Bandai's DVD offerings, but will concentrate on its own titles starting in January.  At this time last year Pioneer was distributing both Viz and Bandai titles as well as its own, but as the anime market has continued to grow over the past year, both Viz and Bandai decided that it now makes more sense to handle distribution chores in-house.

Chu told Chris Beveridge of Anime on DVD that the switchover from Pioneer to an in-house distribution system shouldn't have much impact on Bandai's 2004 release schedule.  Chu noted that Bandai's major December release, the first volume of The Big O II might be moved from December to January, for reasons that have nothing to do with distribution.  Chu also told AOD about several major releases scheduled for the first quarter of 2004 including the highly anticipated Yukikaze series from Studio Gonzo, the release from the new SD Gundam series, and Galaxy Angel Season One.  He said that Bandai would be working closely with Broccoli on the Galaxy Angel release, since Broccoli was publishing the Galaxy Angel manga series.